HYBRID KILLERS
Page 30
“Please, just leave me,” I pleaded weakly, only wanting to close my eyes and sleep.
“Now!” she suddenly commanded, ignoring my request.
Feeling her pushing against my left thigh with her right shoulder, I felt compelled to do what I could to help her. To my amazement, I was suddenly atop the track.
Elated by our progress, I turned my head to look at her. But instead of sharing in our little victory, I was shocked to see her staggering backwards, away from the snow tractor. Without thinking, I quickly grasped at the receding front of her snowsuit with my outstretched fingers. Her right hand suddenly shot out and locked on my wrist. She stood there, our eyes locked on each other’s, neither able to do anymore.
And then she slowly regained her balance, and leaned forward. Her face was even paler than before. It was taking all of her stamina not to pass out.
She spoke first. “You’re going to have to get into the cab on your own.”
Saving my strength for the task ahead, I simply nodded, and slowly dragged myself into the cab. Once inside, I turned around, sitting in the foot well on the passenger’s side facing out. Sandy hadn’t moved from where she was leaning against the track.
Reaching out, I grabbed the collar of her snowsuit in both hands, and said, “You have to help me.”
Our eyes met, and I knew immediately that she would do what she could. I prayed that it would be enough.
Using her good right hand, and kicking with her feet, we got her onto the track, and then into the cab. Since I had entered first, it was only natural for me to slide over to the driver’s side to make room for her. We sat next to each other on the hard bench seat, leaning against each other for support, but too breathless to speak. My head was pounding, and my vision was still fading in and out, but I remained conscious.
“Seatbelts.”
The sound of her voice startled me.
“First we have to get it started, and then we have to figure out how we’re going to drive it. You only have one good arm, and I don’t have any good feet.”
Smiling, she said, “We make a fine pair, don’t we?”
“Yes, we do,” I confirmed.
“We have to talk, John,” her voice, though tired, had taken on a serious note.
“It’ll have to wait.”
“If I don’t make it, John, I don’t want you to hear this from someone else. Because if you do, you might think that everything we had was a lie, and that’s not true.”
Staring into her eyes, I said, “I will never believe that what we have is a lie.”
“Then listen to me, John.”
Taking a deep breath and closing my eyes for a minute, I said, “Okay, I’m listening, but make it quick.”
“I’m not up here because of a drinking problem, or a hit and run accident. That was just my cover story. I was actually sent up here by the company that I work for to do undercover work. It has been my assignment to pose as a client to ‘Mountain Retreats LLC’. I’m an insurance fraud investigator. The company that I work for has been paying ‘Mountain Retreats LLC’ repeatedly on suspicious deaths. They decided that it was time to do a little investigating."
She paused to catch her breath, her eyes never leaving mine. She was trying to read me, to see how her story was affecting me. She couldn’t know that I wouldn’t think any less of her, or that I couldn’t stop loving her, even if I tried. It was easy to forgive her for not telling me the truth sooner; it was her job.
When I didn’t say anything, she continued, her voice noticeably weaker. “Everyone that leases a cabin through the company of ‘Mountain Retreats LLC’, as a matter of course, buys an accidental death policy, naming ‘Mountain Retreats LLC’ as the beneficiary. My company has paid out millions of dollars in benefits with no way of proving that the deaths were anything but accidental. It surprised me to meet someone that already had it figured out. I wanted to tell you that you were right. But it was too soon, I wasn’t ready to reveal my true intent.”
“What about us now?” I asked.
“I love you John. Do you need to know anymore?”
“Yeah, why didn’t your company at least give you a global positioning system and an emergency locater beacon in case you got into trouble?”
“They did. But if the rest of my hunch is true, it will only be alerting the man in my company that is working with Fred, as to our whereabouts.”
She paused to take a breath, her body starting to shiver from cold and shock. I knew what she was going to say next, so I finished for her. “That would be like signing our own death warrants.”
“Exactly. We have to get to the authorities without tipping our hand.”
Facing forward, I flipped the ignition switch to on and depressed the preheat button. After fifteen seconds, I released the preheat button, and stepped on the starter switch. The engine turned over sluggishly for almost fifteen seconds, and then refused to continue.
“It didn’t start,” she said weakly, her voice betraying her fear.
Lying to her, I quickly said, “It’s okay, I just primed it. It’ll start this time.”
Roughly, I flipped the ignition switch on and off several times. Then, leaving it in the on position, I held the preheat button down, but only for a few seconds. The batteries were already weak, and the pre-heaters only drained them further. Releasing the button, I stamped down on the starter switch with my bandaged foot. The engine swung over faster than my first attempt, and then caught. With a huge cloud of exhaust, it roared to life.
Reaching forward, I raised the throttle lever on the dash until the tachometer was in the operating range. The fuel gauge fluttered and then stabilized on just less than one half tank. Due to the roar of the engine, any further conversation was out of question.
I was looking down, studying the different gear arrangements, when Sandy bumped my shoulder. In her right hand, she held out the right half of the seatbelt. Immediately, I understood her intent, and reached behind me on the seat and found the other half. With her holding one side, I pushed and locked in the remaining side, and then cinched it tight across our laps. It was one long seatbelt that included everyone sitting on the bench seat. It was necessary operating equipment when crossing mountainous terrain. Especially when there was a risk of someone losing consciousness and falling out of the cab.
After giving Sandy a smile of confidence, I selected the mid-range gear, and pressed on the two clutch pedals. The machine lurched forward, rocking us back in the seat. Immediately, I let up on the pedals, and the machine bounced against the large fir tree that Sandy had stood by earlier. Putting the transfer case in reverse, I stepped down on the left pedal while leaning the joystick to the left. With a jerk, the machine spun a quarter turn to the left.
Easing off on the left pedal slightly, I then slowly pressed down on both of them, and the machine shot backwards, barely missing Fred’s corpse. It stopped with a thud, as it slammed up against the tree that I had taken refuge behind just a short while before. In the small clearing directly ahead of me, lay the mutilated remains of Sandy’s decoys, along with our smashed coffee mugs and the ashes of our fire.
My driving was rough, unsteady, and my feet were not up to the task, but we were facing in the right direction; the entrance to the small clearing lay directly ahead of us.
Lying just off to our right was Fred’s corpse. It hadn’t been my intention to leave it behind, and I was equally sure that Sandy’s intentions were the same. But even if we had wanted to, it was physically impossible for us to load it on the snow tractor; we were just too physically emaciated for the task.
Glancing at Sandy, I saw that her eyes were closed, and my heart missed a beat. But then, I saw the slow rise and fall of her chest. Since I need only one hand to drive the machine, I drape my right arm around her shoulders and pull her closer to steady her.
Our journey down off the mountain will be a long hard ride. Moreover, our journey through the next few weeks is going to be difficult and trying. There
will be never-ending hearings leading to a long and drawn out court proceeding. We will be asked to explain exactly what became of Fred, including why I felt it necessary to shoot and kill him. And even when the wolf pack is finished with his corpse, there will be the forensic evidence, not to mention the gargantuan task of locating the remains from all the other victims. And then, Sandy will have to prove who the insider in the company is. Whether he is a friend of hers or not, or if she has even met him, I have no idea. But that is one task that she will have to do alone; I cannot help her with that.
We are both going to survive. Whether Sandy will ever regain the use of her left hand and arm, I have no idea. Nor do I know if I will ever walk again or not. But there is no denying the condition of my feet, and it’s a miracle that I can even use them to drive the snow tractor. I never would have believed it possible when I was being helped onto the track just a short while ago. But the human body can show extreme determination and will when provided the right motivation. There can be little doubt that we will have to endure many surgical operations followed by an even longer time in rehabilitation. But we have the best motivation in the world; we have each other.
THE END
More by Will Decker
If you enjoyed this story as much as I have enjoyed bringing it to you, then I implore you to check out the following list of my other works currently available here and at other fine online retailers. Thank you, Will Decker
HYBRID KILLERS 1996
The ‘HEÄLF’ Collection:
MORTALITY REVISITED 1998
CLONE WARS 1999
DAY OF NIGHT 2002
REGENERATIONS 2004
HORSPAW 2006
The ‘Mac” Collection:
THE WITNESS 2007
SATAN’S RAIN 2008
BETRAYAL 2009
RECORD KEEPER 2010
DEATH IN THE DUNES 2012
And if you’re in the mood to make your own books, try this Do-It-Yourself Manual:
SIMPLY PERFECT BINDING 2ND Ed. 2009
Includes many tips and tricks to save you money on everything from Printing to Assembly! Great for turning that downloaded eBook into a paperback for easier, more comfortable reading.